Cortez SimsThe 17-year-old suspect in Wednesday's deadly apartment shooting was apprehended earlier today, police said, ending a two-day search.
Police believe Cortez Sims, 17, entered an apartment in College Hill Courts around 1 a.m. Wednesday and opened fire, killing 20-year-old Talitha Bowman and wounding three others, including a 1-year-old girl.
The surviving adults identified Sims as the shooter.
Hours after the shooting, police issued warrants on Sims for first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Sims was put on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's Top 10 Most Wanted list on Thursday, but managed to evade police until today.
Sims was arrested when he stepped out of a house in Knoxville that state and local authorities had under surveillance this morning, police said. Authorities have not yet released what connection Sims had to the people in the home.
Bowman is the third person killed in Chattanooga during 2015. The violence during the first seven days of the year already rivals some of the most violent stretches of 2014.
Doctors still don't know whether the 1-year-old girl who was injured during Wednesday's attack will be paralyzed or make a complete recovery, her uncle Derrick Shaw said Thursday.
But before Sims was arrested, he said his family forgave the shooter.
"We forgive him for what he's done," Shaw said. "He didn't just hurt our family, he hurt the family of the young woman who died -- and when he is caught his own family is going to be hurting. Everybody's hurting."
Stay with the Times Free Press for updates on this developing story.